“Ty… Ty, get up…” I heard a raspy voice call. I could hardly get myself up, being much too tired to move. Suddenly, I felt a shock course through my arm.

“OW! *cough cough cough*” I was finally awake, but my throat felt like someone had taken a razor blade to it. I felt a small amount of nasal congestion as well, but other than that, I was fine. I wished I could’ve said the same for Twilight, though…

“Good… morning…” she weakly rasped as she barely lifted her head, only to lay it back down. “Ohh, my head…” she groaned in agony.

“Oh, no…!” I said, worried about the unicorn as I laid one hand on her forehead while keeping the other one on her back. Her mane was totally out of shape, she felt unusually cold from the neck down while her head was burning hot, and when she sluggishly moved her head to face me, she revealed that she’d had bags under her eyes, her coat was slightly paler than normal, and that she was extremely weak. She tried to get up, to no avail as she plopped back down onto me, groaning. “You look horrible!”

“Yeah… that’s what a girl likes to hear in the morning…” she tiredly retorted.

“You *cough* know what I *cough cough cough* meant. But still, you’re in no shape t’ go anywhere. We’re stayin’ here today.”

“What? No, I’m *cough cough* totally fine!” she protested. “We can *cough* still make it to Canterlot… We need to go see the princess…”

“Twilight, you can barely move, much less take even yourself to Equestria... *cough* I don't necessarily feel 100% myself... Neither of us is in a good condition t’ *cough* see anybody. As a matter o’ fact, gimme a sec. I’m *cough cough* callin’ outta work,” I said as I carefully lifted the ailing unicorn off of me to place her on the bed. I then slowly got up to grab my cell phone off of the floor and dial the number for my job and wait for someone to answer.

“Hello?” said the voice on the phone. From the sound of it, it was my boss; just the guy I needed.

“Yo… This is *cough cough* Ty… I can’t come int’ work for the next couple *cough* days…”

“What!?” he practically shouted into my ear. “After the no-call, no-show you pulled the other day, you expect me to give you MORE days off!?”

“Listen man, I’m sick as a *cough cough* dog. I can’t breathe an’ my throat’s sore like somebody *cough* used it as a pincushion while I slept… Not t’ mention my uh… *cough cough* my… girlfriend here’s stayin’ with me an’ *cough* she’s got a full-blown fever. I might-a caught it myself…”

“Bullshit!” he replied. “You were fine yesterday. There’s no way your girl got you sick THAT fast!”

“What, are you some kinda expert on how colds an’ fevers work?”

“No, smart-ass! But fine, show me you’re not lying.”

“*sigh* Fine, I’mma prove it,” I said, not in much of a mood to argue. I placed the phone over Twilight’s ear. As I expected, she looked at me in total shock. “Jus’ go ahead an’ *cough* talk…” I whispered with a wink.

“Um… hello *cough cough* How are yuh.. ha… HATCHOO! *cough cough* Ohh, I don’t wanna talk right now…” she groaned. I lifted the phone back to my ear.

“*AHEM* That proof enough for ya?”

“Yeah, dude. Sorry ‘bout that. Fine, ya got today and tomorrow, but THAT’S IT for extra days off until next month! You’re comin’ in even if you’re dying! Got it?”

“Loud n’ clear, Mista Bawss Man.”

“Get well soon. Send your girl my regards.” With that, he hung up. What a relief that was.

“Well, we got the whole day together t’ *cough* spend bein’ sick. I don’t feel too bad, so I guess I’mma be the one t’ take care o’ you. Dr. Memoir, on the case!” I managed to elicit a sickly little laugh out of the unicorn. “First thing’s first: hydration. The best thing you can do when you’re sick is drink a lotta water so you can wash the toxins outta your system. Can ya sit up?”

“Y-yeah… I *cough* think so…” she answered as she slowly, painstakingly moved to a sitting position. “By the way, your voice sounds… different.”

“How?”

“It’s… deeper and more *cough* nasally.”

“Yea, tha’ss what happens when ya get a sore throat an’ stuffy nose. Wait right here.” I wrapped a blanket around her and quickly made my way downstairs and into the kitchen. I came back up with a tall glass of lukewarm water. I figured ice cold water would’ve only made her colder than she already felt. She enveloped the glass in her magic glow and tried to bring it to her mouth.

“Ow!” she winced as she raised a hoof to her head and lost focus on the glass, causing it to spill all over the floor. “*gasp* Sorry…”

“Nah, you fine. That does tell me that magic’s outta the question for you, though. I’ll get another one and feed it to you. By the way, you hungry?”

“A little… I don’t feel like I can eat very much, but I’d rather put something into my *cough* stomach for now…”

“Gotcha.” With that, I grabbed a towel to dry up the water from the last glass and then brought her a simple waffle with another warm glass of water. “Now come ‘ere,” I instructed as I sat next to her on the bed, prompting her to move onto my lap. “Sit back.”

“What *cough* am I, a baby? I don’t need that much help…”

“Well, you’re MY baby for today and I wanna take care of you. But fine,” I said as I picked up the glass. “Will you at least lean back int’ me?”

“*sigh* Fine, ‘daddy’…!” she remarked and rolled her eyes as she turned to face away from me, then leaned back into my chest, folding her legs.

“Jeez, I could only wonder what i’ss like t’ have you for a daughter…”

“Oh, I’m sure it couldn’t be too different from having me as a… a…”

“…Girlfriend?” I finished.

“More like ‘filly-friend…’ but yeah…” silence passed over us as I lifted the glass to her face for her to take a sip.

“Y’know… we really haven’t talked about how this would work…”

“You’re right…” she concurred as she smacked her lips together before I fed her the waffle. “There are a lot of *cough* complications to cover with our… friendship. But let’s save that for AFTER we hear what the princess has to say to us.”

“I guess. *cough* What should we do with today as we try t’ get better?”

“I’m not sure… we haven’t really had alone time together, so I *cough* suppose we could… maybe talk and get to know each other a little better. I *cough* mean, you know my story, but what about yours?”

“Aw, you don’t wanna hear mine. It ain’t exactly a happy one. I’ss not the most depressin’ story you’d hear; far from it when I think about all the people in this world with much worse life experiences than me, but I don’t wanna kill the excitement of havin’ you here, even if we’re sick.”

“Well, I’m all ears. I’ve trained myself in psychiatry, y’know. Besides, I’d love to get to know my special friend a little *cough cough* better…” she said as she finished the glass of water.

“Ask, an’ ye shall receive, Dr. Sparkle…” I responded as I gently patted the mare on her head.

“Ow…! I’m a bit sensitive right now…” she informed as she raised a fore hoof to her head.

“My bad.” With that, I lifted up, allowing the unicorn to climb back onto the bed as I grabbed some shorts and a t-shirt and proceeded to clean myself up. I came back and relaxed back on the bed and tapped my belly, giving her the signal to climb on.

“So. What makes you tick, Ty? What goes on in that mind of yours that keeps you going?”

“Well, Doc, my life is good. Not great, not spectacular, but not bad or horrible, but good. Simply good,” I answered, role-playing with Twilight.

“I see.”

“I suppose you want to know more about my history, though, right?”

“If you feel comfortable with that. I’m only here to help, Mr. Ty.”

“Okey doke. Well, here we go: NOW this is a story ALL about how my life got flip-turned upside down, and I’d like t’ take a minute, jus’ relax an’ you’ll see, I’ll tell ya how I became the prince of a place called ‘Jersey…’”

“Ooh, please, tell me more.”

“Alright. A BIG city in the south, born an’ raised, outside alone is where I spent most o’ my days: Chillin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’, all cool an’ all playin’ with my new toys outside after school, when every other kid, who was up to no good, started messin’ around with my childhood! I got in too many fights an’ my mom got mad an’ said, ‘you’re gettin’ the hell outta here so you can visit your dad…’”

“Oh, my…”

“It gets better: I saw my dear ol’ dad every weekend, and for a while, the getaway was a godsend… until he had a daughter with whom he played favorites, an’ shunned me to solitude like I came from the toilet…”

“Ty…”

“This don’t end sad, don’t worry: A… few… years down the line and my mom was filled with relief, as she found a nicer place a good distance northeast. I thought for a second that this could be new, but then I said, ‘Ah, forget it! It’ll hafta do.’ We Fast-forward to now, and as you can see, that I feel like a prince livin’ in Jersey. Word.”

“Wow… that’s incredible… but now you can tell me your REAL story, right?” My eyes went wide in surprise.

“Wait, how’d you know I was—?”

“Come on, Ty. That funny little *cough cough* poem couldn’t have even HALF way described your life,” Twilight retorted with a chuckle.

“Fine, ya got me… By the way, that was a little somethin’ called, ‘rapping.’” The unicorn looked at me in confusion.

“…Rapping? What is that?”

“Y’know, Rap? Hip-Hop? It’s a music genre!”

“Well it sure as hay doesn’t exist in Equestria, to my knowledge…”

“Whaaaaat?” I was bewildered. “Hip-Hop don’t exist there? You, my dear little filly-friend, have much t’ learn. Basically, Rap is a sort of abbreviation for the phrase, ‘Rhythm And Poetry.’ It’s basically recitin’ a poem to the tune of a musical beat. That’s as simple as I can make it sound.”

“Interesting…”

“What kinds o’ music DO exist there?”

“We have various styles, such as classical, rock, polka, pop, and so on..."

"Yet NO rap or Hip-Hop? I'm not sure whether to be astounded or offended... Where's the black culture?? ...or, whatever the pony equivalent to 'black' is..."

"But then we have a certain style EVERYPONY knows about... I’m not really sure we have a name for it… A lot of times in Equestria, the magic surrounding its inhabitants gets so strong that a lot of us just break out into random, fully orchestrated impromptu songs. Remember what Pinkie told you about that song she called, ‘Smile’ that she made up in her head?”

“Yea…?”

“She wasn’t *cough* kidding. She made it up in her head entirely; complete with a special song played seemingly out of thin air that perfectly matched the lyrics she came up with in an instant.” I looked at Twilight like she was crazy.

“…What in the hell sense does THAT make? Is your world some kinda livin’ musical or somethin’?”

“No. It literally happens. I suppose it’s one of those things that you’d get a better idea of by seeing it for yourself.”

“Got that right…”

“Anyway, about your story…”

“I already told you.”

“Your REAL story, Ty,” she demanded.

“Alright, fine…” I took a deep breath and used a moment to consider what to tell her. “Well, le’ss see… I was born t’ parents who didn’t get along with each other and decided to separate. I spent the majority of my childhood livin’ in that city we visited the other day with my mother."

"Separated parents...?" she asked, her eyes wide with intrigue.

"It ain't as bad as ya might think. So anyway, My mom’s a great human being. Always there t’ support me, like a true mother would. Can be a bit snippy, usin’ sarcasm when it ain’t necessary at times, an’ other times, she’ll get overly stressed out at trivial things an’ it drives me crazy, but I love her."

"Well that's relieving to hear..."

"Indeed. As for my childhood, I was extremely reclusive to the point where I got picked on whenever I went outside. I didn’t know how t’ deal with my aggressions in a positive manner an’ I couldn’t talk t’ my mom about my problems cuz she was always so busy workin’ that I’d only see ‘er late at night whenever she’d pick me up from a babysitter, so I got int’ lots o' fights with other kids an’ became a troublemaker in school even though the teachers would tell me time an’ time again that my grades an’ work ethic often betrayed my behavior."

"Really?? You don't seem like you'd be the aggressive type..."

"Maybe, but my fuse back then was notoriously short. I've LONG since been able t' keep myself under control, but I still have bouts o' spontaneous recovery, as you saw when we walked around Canterlot..."

"Oh..."

"Yea. What else...? Oh yea! I only saw my dad on weekends for pretty much as long as I can remember. We got along pretty well for the most part despite him teachin’ me things I shouldn’t have learned at the age he was teachin’ ‘em to me."

"Like what?"

"Lots o' things... Adult words, a depressingly pessimistic worldview ALMOST t' the point o' nihilism, so on, so forth... He had a short temper, though. There were times where he would lose his patience and his temper with me, especially one time where he busted my lip."

"*GASP* Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed in horror, her eyes wavering as she brought a hoof over her own lips.

"Mm-hmm. Then he had a daughter by a different woman by the time I was five, which caused him t’ gradually shift his attention t’ her over the years until visitin’ him became more an’ more like goin’ t’ solitary confinement with all the time I spent there alone due t’ him spoilin’ his daughter t’ no conceivable end. Eventually, he moved somewhere without tellin’ me, and I ain’t seen him since. And then I moved here. Buuuut, over the years, I learned t’ take my education seriously and break away from the wrong crowds after however many years I spent bein’ the fall-guy for the other kids I thought were my ‘friends.’ By the time I hit high school, I changed myself almost entirely. For the better, I might add. Well, tha’ss the gist of it. Is this good enough for ya, Dr. Sparkle?”

“Wow… so that ‘rap’ thing you did WASN’T totally off…”

“Nope.”

“I’m… sorry about your dad…”

“Don’t be. I stopped carin’ a long time ago, an’ I don’t want anybody else t’ care. It ain’t the best thing t’ say, but tha’ss how it is.”

“That’s terrible! I couldn’t even imagine *cough* *AHEM* what it would be like for my parents to have been in the same situations as yours were in. Especially the whole ‘playing favorites with children’ thing.”

“Yea, I know. But i’ss what I grew up with, an’ I learned that it wasn’t right, but it happened. I ain’t mad, though. In the end, my experiences made me who I am. I also learned not t’ make the same mistakes my parents did, like the ‘playin’ favorites with kids’ thing. How could I be mad at that?”

“I still don’t like how that happened to you…”

“I appreciate your concern.”

“I appreciate your appreciation for my concern.” She smirked.

“Cute.” I laughed

“As I’ve been *cough* told.”

“So… how do you think you got sick?”

“My best guess is when I decided to *cough* take Rainbow Dash up on her offer. After she flew me through a cloud that made me all soaking wet and cold, I told her I’d be okay if I air dried, for fear of letting her dry me off, which *cough cough* would’ve made my hair look like yours when you were a pony… no offense.”

“None taken.”

“Good. But yeah, I probably should’ve taken her up on it, because it’s bad for a pony’s health to be wet, cold, and in open air. It opens them up to all kinds of sickness.”

“No different from humans in that department, I see.”

“Indeed. So… what got YOU sick?”

“Oh, I dunno…” I quipped. “I think it was cuz some girl tried stickin’ her tongue in my mouth last night, even though she was coughin’ like she had lungs full o’ smoke…” she giggled.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Was this girl at least cute?”

“Heh. Stunning. You could almost say she looked… magical.” We shared a good laugh before falling silent and staring at one another.

“Sorry for getting you sick, though…”

“What done been did, done been did.”

“…What?”

“Exactly.”

“That doesn’t make any sense…”

“Yet, it makes all the sense…”

“Riiight…”

“Eeyup.”

“So…”

“So… wanna play some Xbox?”

“If by ‘Xbox,’ you mean that infuriating ‘Meat Boy’ game, I’ll pass.”

“No, we won’t be playin’ that,” I said as I sat up. “There’s tons of other games t’ play.”

“Like what?”

“You’ll see…” I answered as she climbed off of me to allow me to grab two controllers and turn the TV and game system on. I handed her one of the controllers and grabbed a CD case to show her some of the games I had. “I got quite a few games for us t’ play together. Would you like t’ play some… Sonic…? Street Fighter…? Mortal Kombat…? Halo…?”

“I don’t know what ANY of those are, but I suppose I’ll pick… that one,” she said, pointing a hoof to the disc with the design of a black dragon on it.

“Mortal Kombat it is. I hafta warn you, though… This game is a bit uh… graphic. I dunno if you can handle it…”

“What harm could a series of moving images do to anypony? Or human…?” I raised my eyebrows and gave her an ‘I warned you…’ look before I put the game in. Shortly, we were immersed in a virtual world of intense violence and ridiculous amounts of blood. The first thing we saw was at the title screen, where a yellow ninja had punched a blue ninja in the face.

“I get the feeling this game has a bit of violence in it…” Twilight hypothesized.

“And ya feelin’ would be right.” I was sure to enter the tutorial mode that allowed for the practice of finishing moves and picked a particularly brutal one, just to see Twi’s reaction.

“Now, are you ABSOLUTELY sure you won’t get scared?”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of. Why are you so afraid of what I might—? *GASP*” she didn’t finish as she turned to the screen to watch the blue ninja rip another ninja’s head off, the spinal cord attached, with his bare hand and present it to the camera. The look on her face changed from one of naïve confidence to wide-eyed shock and disgust.

“Turn it off, turn it off, turn it off!” she begged as she hid behind my back.

“I told ya,” I said, breaking into a laugh as I took the game out.

“Oh, dear sweet Celestia, that was horrible!”

“That it was. That it was. Why don’t we play somethin’ a bit more… friendly?”

“I don’t mind the violence, but that was just *cough* grotesque,” she said as she returned to her original position.

“Noted.” We spent some time trying out various games for her to play. I tried my best to keep her away from any games that showed a lot of killing in them. We also steered clear of the dreaded ‘Super Meat Boy.’ We started off with simple run-and-jumpers like Sonic the Hedgehog, which she caught the hang of very quickly, seeing as it had a similar play style to Meat Boy, but much more forgiving and enjoyable. We also played Street Fighter. She was quickly able to learn the controls of the game, despite its notoriously confusing moves list descriptions. Nonetheless, Twilight proved to be a much faster learner than I could’ve anticipated. We didn’t play it for very long, due to her needing to use magic to be able to press all of the buttons, which didn’t help her headache. Otherwise, she actually proved to be a VERY challenging and analytical opponent; especially with Chun-Li and Rose (her two favorites). She beat me a few times, to my surprise and teensy bit of humiliation.

The most fun we had together was when we were playing co-op in a game by the name of ‘‘Splosion Man,’ where teamwork was absolute key for level completion. We were on-point with coordination for the most part, with each of us making an occasional mistake that got us both killed again and again. Afterwards, I took a break and introduced her to some classics, like Galaga and Pac-Man, which she mastered instantly. As she played, I decided to go make us some lunch. I came back to find that she was blowing through Pac-Man like nothing…

“You’re on level seventy-five???” I asked in total shock. “And you have all your extra lives???”

“Yeah. This game’s incredibly simple,” she matter-of-factly replied. “By level ten, I noticed that each of the little ghosts follow distinct, yet predictable patterns depending on how I move while the game itself gradually sped up. I also noticed that the effects of big dot things you make this cheese ball thing eat gradually got weaker, until eventually, it only temporarily altered the directions in which the ghosts move rather than turn them blue. Taking that into account, I was able to figure out how to maneuver through this game with relative ease.”

“Is that so? You’re far better at this than I am… I could only make it to twenty-one if I’m lucky…” Then I got an awful idea, which I smirked at. “Jus’ be careful once you get t’ level two hundred fifty-six...”

“This game goes on for that long?? And what happens at level two hundred fifty-six?”

“Keep playin’ an’ find out…” I simply responded. “Oh, and I made you some PB n’ J with some cookies an’ milk. And I brought you some tissues and cough drops in case your nose starts to run or gets stuffy.”

Two Hours Later

“Y’know, making cheese ball man—!”

“Pac-Man.”

“…eat the same two hundred forty-four dots and the occasional snack at the middle of the maze for two hundred *cough* fifty-four levels, listening to the same ten sound effects gets KINDA tedious…” she informed, seeming to be very drowsy. I looked at her eyes to see that she looked like she was so focused that she hadn’t been blinking. That was shocking enough, but what really shocked me was that…

“You actually counted how many dots there were on—?”

“AAAND two hundred fifty-five is done…”

“Alright, here we go! The level we’ve ALL been *cough* waitin’ for! Two hundred fifty-six!”

“Yeah, finally… What the hay???” The level that came up on the screen was something Twilight never expected; only half of the level was visible, while the other half was a jumbled cluster of broken sprites and glitch madness. She finally hit Pac-Man's notorious Kill Screen.

“Ta-da! There ya go! Level two hundred fifty-six! It’s completely unbeatable, because it’s broken! You’ve beaten this game so hard that you basically broke it! Congratulations, Twilight Sparkle!”

“…”

“Uh… Twilight…?”

“You made me sit here… for two hours…”

“Twi? You okay?”

“…running through the same repetitive level with the same repetitive theme…” she started speaking through tightly clenched teeth.

“…I take it you’re not too amused.”

“So you could trick me into finding a surprise that came in the form of getting to a level that’s too BROKEN TO BEAT!?” she stared hot death into my eyes, her frazzled mane rising into the air as if she were about to undergo a super transformation.

“Aw, shit son…”

“I-I uh… thought you’d find it amusing…?” She was clearly not happy with that answer. However, instead of going through that transformation, she simply calmed down completely, which scared me even more.

“You know what? You’re right. It WAS pretty funny, now that I think of it…” she chuckled. And chuckled. And chuckled. I forced a laugh out of uneasiness.

“Uh, y-yea! See, now you’re lookin’ on the bright si—!” I was interrupted as she grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me close. She leaned in, her brow furrowed. “You ain’t that mad, are ya? If you are, I’m sorry. Can you forgive me for this?”

“Hmm… Okay, I’ll forgive you… under one condition,” she suggested as she let me go.

“What might that be?”

“I want you… to… play the Meat Boy game for just as long as you had me playing this game. No stops, no breaks for anything, continuous play, no matter how much you get stuck… and as a bonus, I want you to play the hardest levels it has to offer.”

“Now that’s just CRUEL! Two hours o’ THAT??”

"She'd have a better time watchin' me burn down a forest out o' pure rage..."

“It’s only fair…” she teased with a smirk and a shrug. I could tell she was just looking for a laugh at this point. “Oh, and if you quit or stop for any reason, you owe me BIG time…”

“*sigh* Alright, fine…” I reluctantly agreed. “But if I break somethin’ cuz o’ how angry I’mma get, I blame you.”

“Before you begin your perilous journey, allow me to freshen myself up.”

“Okey doke.” With that, she got up and walked into the bathroom, leaving me to my thoughts of how I was going to go through two hours of this game without quitting. But then, I wondered what she had in store for if I did Rage Quit…

“Goddammit…!” I rasped as I sent myself flying into a pit of lava. I’d spent almost an hour watching myself die again and again as I progressed through this merciless game. Fitting that the world I was in was literally called ‘Hell.’

“Even I’M beginning to question if making you play this was such a good idea…” said Twilight, sitting next to me as she took a bite out of the sandwich I’d made her.

“This game isn’t even that— NRRGGH! Hard…! I’ss jus’ me makin’— D’oh, my GOD!” I felt drenched in sweat as I focused on the game, trying vehemently to complete the levels. I had a bit of a competitive streak when it came to games like this, where there are set par completion times for the levels, which I was determined to beat every single one of. This unfortunately served to infuriate me much more than if I was simply trying to beat the game. “Don’t think I don’t hear you laughin’ over there…”

“Who, me?” she asked, poorly feigning offense. “I’d NEVER laugh at someone’s misfortu…” she choked on the word ‘misfortune’ and burst into a giggle after watching me face palm and huff in anger at yet another embarrassing death. “*AHEM* I’d never laugh at another’s mis… *SNORT* fortune.” I shook my head.

“You have no idea how much I ha— DAMMIT! Hate this game…”

“You COULD just stop playing it. Surely, doing me that favor would be better than this, right?”

“Hold on, I think I got this one. All I have t’ do is lightly jump in between the saws at the last part, make a mad dash, an’ I’ll be golden on this one.”

“Alright. I believe in you.”

“Thanks.” With that, I focused on the level at hand. This one had taken me particularly long to figure out how to complete, but after a good fifteen minutes or so of trial-and-error, I was finally zooming through the level. I’d JUST made it to the part where I was making the home stretch when…

“HATCHOO!!”

“Eww, what the— NO! No no no nonono—!” *SPLAT* I died again.

“Are you SERIOUS…!?” I could only blankly stare at the screen, devoid of any emotion as I contemplated what just happened. I was beating the level. I was so close. SO close! Then Twilight sneezed on my hand. I lifted my hand up, still holding that blank expression as I examined the saliva and mucus-covered appendage. I puffed out my cheeks slightly as I pouted and directed my stare at the unicorn, looking for an explanation.

“Ooh, I’m… really sorry, Ty…” she apologized, smiling sheepishly. “I um… I didn’t expect that to happen…”

“…Twi.” I very calmly said.

“Y-yeah?”

“Could you please step outside for a moment?” my voice was a bit shaky as I tried to remain calm.

“You’re not going to break anything, are you?”

“Perhaps… perhaps… but I just really need you to step outside o’ the room, close the door, and very tightly cover your ears… because I, quite frankly, am pissed off.”

“Ty, I’m sorry! It was—!”

“No, I’m not mad at you. I jus’ don’t want you t’ see what’s about t’ go down in here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.”

“…Well, alright then…” with that, she climbed off of the bed, walked out of the door, and presumably covered her ears. Once I was sure she’d followed my instructions, I widened my eyes and began to huff… and puff... as if I were an antagonist from a fairy tale. And just like in that fairytale, I was fitting to blow some houses down. I clenched my fists and my teeth and held my breath at the same time I was trying to exhale, deliberately forcing blood into my head as I growled. I was basically trying to become a Super Saiyan. *Once I felt I’d almost made my head explode, I let out a deep exhale as I pounded the controller with my fist a few times,* grabbed it, and tossed it on the floor. *Then, I let it go…

“FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—*COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH* Stupid ass sore *COUGH* *AHEM* throat…” I very audibly growled.*

After that, I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down, although I was still visibly upset and had given myself a headache, finding myself unable to unfurrow my brow as I calmly moved to carefully pick the snotty controller up, turn off the game system, and reopen the door to find Twilight obediently covering her ears. She looked up at me in worry as she lifted herself to all four of her hooves.

“Are you feeling any better?”

“*sigh* No. But that’ll hafta do.”

“I suppose you’ll want to continue playing?” I thought about it for literally three seconds.

“Nope. Not at all. I am done. I have lost any shred of patience or tolerance I had with that game. I refuse to even look at it again… at least, for a while. Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go wash your snot off of my hand AND this sweat-bathed controller.” She only smiled sheepishly at me as she backed into the room. I washed my hands and the controller and rejoined the unicorn in my room, sitting down on the bed next to her.

“Your eyes,” she said as she looked at me. “They’re all… red.”

“It happens. Y’know, when your blood pressure takes an exponential hike,” I calmly replied.

“I’m REALLY sorry… I didn’t mean to sneeze on you. I really didn’t. It kind of snuck up on me…”

“You’re good. Now… what was that favor o’ yours?”

“You’d still do that for me? After I sabotaged your game?”

“A deal’s a deal. Now what do I owe ya?”

“Well… I was… kind of hoping you’d… teach me how to do that… ‘Hip-Hop Rap’ thing you were doing earlier.”

“Oh, that? Sure. What did you wanna rap about?”

“I suppose I’ll talk about my life from beginning to present, like you did, so I can understand how the concept works. Yours was pretty catchy.”

“To be perfectly honest with you, I only changed up the lyrics from this real old song I heard time an’ time again so that the words would describe me.”

“Even so, it’s a good basis.”

“True. Okay, lemme grab a piece o’ paper an’ a pencil so we can brainstorm your lyrics…”

“Alright!”

“Oh, an’ jus’ for good measure… here,” I said as I got up to grab a black cap from my closet and place it on Twilight’s head facing backwards. “There. Lookin’ all G’d up now.”

“G’d up? What’s that mean?”

“Nothin’…” I laughed. “Now le’ss see watcha got, Lady T-Spark!”

“…What?”

“First rule o’ bein’ a rapper: Ya gotta have a stage name.”

“Ooookay…?”

“You’ll understand. Now le’ss get t’ work…”

We spent a fair amount of time brainstorming lyrics for Twilight to recite, but not before we ate some cough drops to keep from spoiling the performance with fits of hacking. I even took the extra step in going onto my computer and searching for instrumental hip-hop beats for her to go along with. It took longer than I’d expected trying to write up the lyrics, considering she was trying to fit in all these big, intellectual words, most of which I didn’t even think had rhymes to them; especially a particular forty-five letter-long word I had no idea she’d even known.

Once that slight nuisance was out of the way, we tested her song out on various instrumental beats I looked up on my computer. She spent half of that time asking about what an ‘internet’ was and how computers worked. I just told her I’d explain it all to her later, because if I did it then, she’d never get this song out of her system. Eventually, we finished this little project and I couldn’t wait to see the results…

“Okay, I’mma play the beat. You ready?”

“Yeah. Um… how’d that phrase go…? Oh yeah! Drop that funky beat, yo!” I cracked up at that. Priceless… Nonetheless, I began the beat for her.

“Get ready!”

“Okay… Here goes nothing… Yeah… Okay… Ready to um... lay it on ‘em…” she said, nodding her head to the opening jingle. As soon as the first drum set sounded, she began.

I’m a pretty little pony who’s a connoisseur of books,

I’m more than meets the eye, you could tell just by my looks,

I represent the fair town of Ponyville,

And now I’m here to show you ALL my MAD mic skills,

As a filly, I was silly, chose my talents over friends,

Reading books willy nilly from beginning to end,

In the city of Canterlot, born and raised,

In the libraries is where I spent most of my days,

Studying the entirety of the day away,

Not exactly the best way to live… But hay,

It got me enrolled in an exclusive institution,

So I figured books were my only suitable solution,

I even got my Cutie Mark at the entrance exam,

And got recruited as Princess Celestia’s right hand…

Or should I say ‘hoof,’ given that we’re ponies,

Not changelings or illusions or any kind of phonies,

I spent my WHOLE life studying up on magic,

Which made my social skills look unbelievably tragic,

Till one day, I was assigned to make the move to a town,

Not on a high mountainside, but WAY down on the ground,

I was reluctant at first,

Not sure what to expect,

I feared the worst, but I could only accept,

That I was given a mission to stop Nightmare Moon,

And gain some friends as an ultimate boon,

In the end, I succeeded and made five friends,

Who’ll have my back all the way to the end…

Rainbow Dash… She’s a blast and a half,

Loyalty is her element; she’s always there in a flash,

Then I got Pinkie Pie, who’s all that and a laugh,

And since Laughter’s her element,

She’ll get you laughing fast,

Next up’s Fluttershy, who’s a heck of a mare,

She’s the element of Kindness,

Always able to care,

Then there’s Rarity, who’s got no ferocity,

Quite the opposite, representing Generosity

Last, but not least, there’s Applejack,

A pony I KNOW has got my back,

She’s the element of Honesty, without a doubt,

She tells no lies; no matter what it’s about…

SILLY me; I never actually mentioned my name!

It’s Twilight Sparkle, and the element of Magic’s my game,

Our experience and friendship has become a big part of me,

And that’s exactly what makes us the…

Elements of Harmony! Word!

I ended the song and stared in amazement at the unicorn.

“Whoo… Hot DAYUM!”

“How was that?”

“Outstanding!”

“Really??”

“Yeah, that was amazin’ for your first time! I’m impressed!”

“Aww, thanks!” she smiled warmly at me. I smiled back.

“I’d suggest keepin’ that memorized so you could show it t’ the others sometime…”

“Oh, I don’t know about that…”

“I say show ‘em! Sharin’ is carin’!”

“Hmm… Oh, alright, I’ll see how they like it…”

“Tha’ss the spirit!”

“Great! So… what’s there to do now? It’s still pretty early in the evening…”

“True… y’know, I have a few questions for ya. But why don’t we talk over dinner?”

“Sure. What will we be having?”

“Umm… depends… what do you like?”

“A lot of things. Mainly fruits and flowers, but I’ll eat sweets, too.”

“I see… is there such a thing as ‘pizza’ in Equestria?”

“That there is! I don’t have it very often, so I could go for that.”

“Okey doke. Whatcha want on it?”

“Just cheese is fine.”

“Alright.” With that, I picked up my phone, called the nearest restaurant, and placed a delivery order for a large cheese pizza. I was given a thirty-minute waiting period. “It’ll be here in a half-hour. In the meantime, how ya feelin’?”

“I’m… actually not feeling too bad. My headache’s calmed down a bit, my nose isn’t as runny, my throat only feels a little tingly, and I’m hardly getting chills anymore. I’ll probably be all better by tomorrow. How about you?”

“I feel like I’m gettin’ worse, actually. It feels gross t’ swallow, my throat’s gettin’ sore, my nose is occasionally cloggin’ up, and my body hurts for no reason. Chills are occasional. How is it that you’re recoverin’ so fast?”

“I use my magic to accelerate my rejuvenation from temporary illnesses like this. It’s a low-level spell I use that makes colds that would normally last a week, last little more than a single day for me. It’s really simple. Most unicorns know it.”

“Lucky you… I’m… HATCHOO! Jealous… This is prolly gonna last me all week… *sniff*”

“I could see what I can do for you tomorrow when I’m in better shape. I’m still not feeling a hundred percent on magic.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Right. So um..." I trailed off, looking for some topic to discuss with the lavender mare. In an instant something popped up. "Hey, I just remembered: Other than what Celestia said about wantin’ us both t’ see her A.S.A.P., what did she say about her reasons behind the banishment?”

“It’s… kind of a complicated story…” the unicorn informed with a hint of worry.

“Complicated? How?” My curiosity piqued. I just HAD to know.

“Well... Get this: Somehow, some way, there was… another human that found his way to my world…”

“WHAAAAT???”

“Yeah… The other human was brought to that distant eastern country by a different unicorn. That unicorn also found a spell that permanently turned him into a pony, which in essence, binds him permanently to my world. That human turned out to be manipulative and shifty, finding ways to almost cause a war that he was hoping to take advantage of by forming a coup and trying to take over both of the countries he managed to turn on one another. The mare that brought him there had no idea he was causing such pandemonium until after he was captured. She was apparently seeing this human-turned-stallion and had no reason to suspect he'd been up to no good. Celestia said it was because this mare's judgment was clouded… because she…”

“Because she what…?”

“…loved him.” Those two words sent a wave of emotion into my gut.

“Love, huh?”

“…So… so she thought that because our situation looks similar in terms of the circumstances of our friendship and my arrival, I’d wind up betrayin’ you?”

“Basically.”

“Well I gotta admit, I'm mildly offended. But how’d she find out that the pony doin’ all that stuff in that other country was human?”

“After he was apprehended, the mare in question came to her and confessed.”

“Huh… That still don’t explain why she instantly decided t’ kick me out without fair trial or somethin’.”

“She assured me that she was only looking out for Equestria’s safety and my safety as well.”

“Tha'ss basically what she told me. I can understand that, but i’ss pretty unfair t’ tell somebody t’ get out because o’ one bad incident that had nothin’ t’ do with them. What, did she figure I’d jus’ decide one day that I MIGHT become evil even though she apparently invaded my head?”

“N-No, of course not,” Twilight answered unsurely.

“That doesn’t sound too convincin’…”

“Well… I mean it wasn’t ENTIRELY because she thought that…”

“But the fact still stands that I got punished for somethin’ I MIGHT do, because somebody else did it.”

“Yes, but please understand that she didn’t do it to punish you. Nonetheless, she realized her mistake and she is willing to make a change,” the mare asserted, suddenly on the defensive when it came to her country's ruler.

“And I appreciate that, but why is it that she was so quick t’ throw me out an’ lock away the key?”

“I think you said that backwards… But anyway, she’s never visited this place before. She doesn’t know what to expect of the inhabitants here. And given that the other human told that unicorn that all humans were evil, Celestia could only base her judgment on that. What you told her about not all humans being evil, but there being varying dispositions around this world didn’t exactly help in changing her mind.”

“…Alright. I won’t hold it against her that she was given some bad info, but seriously: What does that have to do with me specifically, other than the fact that I’m human? It ain’t very leader-like t’ believe a stereotype about an entire race all because one member of said race decides t’ be a jerk.”

“Celestia’s a great leader!” Twilight scolded. “But you do have a point. It wasn’t fair of her to do such a thing. She realized that when I talked to her. But take into account that she didn’t know anything about your race before that other human showed up. She didn’t even know you existed.”

“Yeah, but I’m sure she don’t judge other races that reside in your world based on what she sees. You didn’t.”

“She’s lived for much longer than anypony in my world. Yet, in not one of those hundreds of years has she ever come into contact with a human. Before the other human showed up, her opinion on you was a blank slate. Come to think of it, according to Cadence and the letter we got from Celestia the other day, she seemed pretty excited to see you before that crisis ruined it. Besides that, my appearing to you was a complete accident. I could’ve wound up teleporting myself to someone who tried to hurt me the instant they saw me, conferring to your perception on humans. For all I know… you could’ve tried to hurt me yourself.”

“Twi… *sigh* I’m not gonna hurt you. I didn’t even think about it when you showed up here. And I wouldn’t even dream of hurtin’ you now. Hell, you came in via magic teleportation, so I instantly figured you were much stronger than me anyway. But tha’ss beside the point. Celestia’s hundreds o’ years without human contact doesn’t quite make it a reason for her t’ distrust me to the point where she’d throw me out like she did.”

“You’re right… but now that I think of it, maybe she was so quick to do so because I’m her protégé; her most faithful student.”

“Yeah, you said that already. She was lookin’ out for your safety.”

“Yes, but it's a bit deeper than that… She’s become like a second mother to me. I spent a large amount of my foalhood under her care. She told me that it would really hurt her to see me in pain or danger. That was one of her biggest reasons for doing what she did.” That opened my eyes a bit.

“I kinda see it now… i'ss kind of a matter of trustin' a human t' take care of her daughter along with findin' out what kinds o' creatures humans are?”

“For the most part. But as we’ve gone over before, she has no real way to get to know any humans besides you. Your race isn’t watched over by her, so as of right now, she doesn’t know what to expect from you. Other than that, she and I are very close. Buuut, seeing how close you and I have become...”

“Hm. I see… I have the burden of proof on this one, but I’m confident that I can do it. Alright, I’ll consider her opinion on humans and her relationship with you when we go see ‘er. Thanks, Twi.”

“You’re welcome,” she answered with a smile.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

“Sounds like the pizza’s here. I’mma get it.” I gathered up the money out of my wallet before rushing downstairs to pick up the pizza and pay the delivery guy. I set the box down on the counter before calling Twilight down. As we got settled in, I decided to start up another conversation topic with her.

“Hey Twi. I know we been havin’ some fun together, but I gotta know… what are your normal hobbies?”

“Hobbies? Well, I’d have to say reading books, studying, learning, honing my magic skills, and planning things out. Oh! And science.”

“Oh boy, how exciting,” I sarcastically remarked, rolling my eyes as I ate my first slice. I looked back at her to see that she didn’t exactly appreciate my quip.

“Oh? And what exactly do YOU do that’s more fun than what I do, huh?”

“I didn’t mean it like that! That was rude o' me... But as for me, I play video games… sometimes, I practice with musical instruments… um… and sometimes, I’ll read. I like a good read every once in a while. I also like t’ jus’ sit an’ think about stuff when there ain’t nothin’ else goin’ on. Again, sorry about the sarcasm.”

“It’s okay. Although I don’t see how you find enjoyment out of making yourself angry by playing those games… But you play musical instruments? And what types of books interest you?”

“Not every game riles me up like that. Just the ones that are unforgivingly hard. As for musical instruments, I jus’ kinda dabble in stuff. My favorites are drums an’ piano, but I’ve recently taken an interest in the guitar. I ain’t that good at any of ‘em yet, so don’t expect a full song from me too soon,” I joked. “And books… hmm… I would say autobiographies, tragedy, humor, and… nonfiction.”

“Interesting…”

“Since you’re so invested in books, what catches your eye?”

“I’ll read just about anything! Every book is an entire world of knowledge and information, and I LOVE learning… other than strengthening my magic, learning is possibly my most favorite thing to do.” I noticed a glimmer in her eyes as she confessed her passion for knowledge to me. It was cutely inspiring.

“Hm. There is no knowledge that is not power.”

“Yes! I feel like learning makes me stronger every day… but as for favorites… I’d have to say I like documentary, biography, spell books, and scientific textbooks most.”

“Nice. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but… what do you do when you’re NOT studyin’ or readin’ or schedulin’ stuff?”

“I hang out with my friends. Sometimes, one or a couple of them will come over and we’ll discuss anything under Celestia’s sun, or all of them will invite me out for a group get-together. There's also the off chance that we'll wind up having to go on some crazy adventure to save Ponyville or even all of Equestria! And before you ask, Spike DOES come along, too, on occasion. He’s never ignored. Most times, he simply chooses not to, though. I can’t say I blame him. A male baby dragon around a bunch of mares isn’t exactly a suitable image for him. I’ve only seen him hanging around two colts by the names of Snips and Snails, but they’re younger than he is, so he doesn’t do so very often. He mainly opts to clean up around the library while I’m busy or gone.”

“I see… He needs more friends of the same gender t’ be around. But then, with him bein’ a dragon in a town inhabited by ponies, I could see how that could be a bit tough.” I hypothesized as I finished my final slice.

“Oh, no. Nopony minds Spike being a dragon, and he knows just about as many ponies as I do. I’d assume he just needs more ponies in his age group to befriend.”

“Possibly. Say, exactly how old ARE you, anyway?” Twilight smirked as she finished her second slice.

“How old do you think I am?”

“I dunno… I’d hafta say you’re… in your late teens…?” I guessed as I rubbed my chin.

“Close… ” she winked.

“In your… twenties…?”

“Close…”

“Aw come on!” I complained. “Which one is it!?”

“I’ll leave that entirely to your speculation…” she winked again.

“Yeah, cuz that’s real fair… Tell me!”

“Nope…”

“Why?”

“Because I want you to guess…” I let out an exhale from my nose.

“…you prolly get this question a lot, don’t you?”

“Correct. This is why I like to play the guessing game with anypony who asks. While we’re on the topic, how old are you?”

“Guess.” I challenged, not one to concede, just like her.

“Alright then… Hmm…” she eyed me up and down as she studied me. She got out of her chair and trotted over to me, focusing her gaze on me.

“Focusin’ pretty hard there, eh?” My quip fell on deaf ears as she climbed up onto my lap, her concentrated stare unfaltering. She leaned REAL close to me as she practically tried boring into my mind with her eyes. Getting a little jaded with her extensive, yet seemingly inconclusive stare study, I decided to break her focus. So I kissed her. She pulled her head back, blushing as she did so.

“No fair! I was so close, too!” the unicorn complained.

“Yea, you was ‘close’ alright…” I joked with a chuckle. “An’ it looked like you ain’t have a clue where t’ begin guessin’.”

“Well… maybe. But only because I have no clue on the human aging process. I don’t notice any gray in your hair, or any wrinkles, so you have to be fairly young.”

“I suppose I could say the same t’ you.”

*RIIIIING*

“Lemme go get that,” I said as Twilight hopped off of my lap. I went into the living room and looked at the caller I.D. to see that it was my job calling.

“Hello?”

“Yeah, Ty?” requested the voice.

“Good evenin’, boss.”

“Yeah, good evening. Um… I’m gonna need you t’ come in tomorrow.”

“What?? Why?”

“One of the other guys got put in the hospital for food poisoning. He won’t be back for a couple days, according to him. All you got’s a cold, right?”

“*sigh* Yeah, but I—!”

“Everyone I called on the 5:00 shift couldn’t take up the extra time. Either that, or they didn’t answer. You’re the only guy to answer, so I guess you’ll be comin’ in tomorrow, right?”

“Come on, man, I—!”

“I’ll pay you for today AND tomorrow, alright? That way, your check won’t be so bad since you still got that no-call, no-show on your record.”

“*sigh* Fine…” I caved. I could use as much money as I could get. Plus, who wouldn’t want to get paid for not working a day? Of course, there was the problem of what Twilight would do here alone for eight hours. That and we had to go visit Princess Celestia. “But i’ss YOUR fault if anybody gets sick there.”

“Yeah, got it. Just keep to yourself for the day, an’ the whole time should blow over quickly, and you can get some time with your lady friend.”

“Gotcha. HATCHOO!”

“Great. See ya tomorrow.” He hung up.

“Damn…”

“Alright, Twi, I got some bad news.” I said as I walked back into the kitchen to sit down.

“What is it?”

“I gotta go t’ work tomorrow, but I’m leavin’ at like 7:30 AM. I should be back by 4:30 PM.”

“That kind of puts a strain on our time with Celestia, but okay…”

“Well, you should be all better by tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, but I can’t make more than two trips between universes per day just yet. That spell is exhausting.”

“Right… but, you don’t actually have t’ leave. What if you…” I thought for a second before I’d gotten an idea. “I dunno, sent a letter t’ Spike t’ send to Celestia tellin’ her about the delay?”

“Hm… I suppose that could work. And from there, she’ll know what’s going on by the time we make the trip there. Alright. But what will I be doing with all that free time?”

“True… Hold on…” I instructed as I got up and looked around the house for some books. I searched high and low for material I found suitable for Twilight’s interest. By the time I was done, I'd managed to find three anatomy and physiology textbooks my mother left, a couple of old Dr. Seuss books by the names of ‘The Cat in the Hat’ and ‘Green Eggs and Ham’, a psychology textbook, an algebra textbook, a perspectives on human sexuality textbook (which I felt EXTREMELY awkward about giving to a unicorn to read), an old magazine, and a dating advice guide (which I also felt awkward about giving to a unicorn to read). I didn’t feel like it was much, but I figured she’d be busy enough to keep from being bored the whole time. I’d also found another notebook and a pen in case she might’ve wanted more notes. I carried the hefty stack of books down into the living room and called the unicorn over.

“Well, I’ve got all these books here for you t’ read. I even got you another notebook if you wanted t’ take notes. Other than that, I suppose you could jus’ mess with the Xbox for a while.”

“Hm, I suppose. Most of these books DO seem sizable enough to keep me occupied... Maybe I’ll be able to focus on them the whole time. Let’s see what we have here…” My heart started to pound out of fear of what she’d think of my findings. “Anatomy and Physiology… Understanding Psychology… Perspectives on *GASP*”

“Yep. Jus’ the reaction I was expectin’…”

“…Sexuality?”

“I swear I only brought it because I thought you might be interested in it,” I rambled in panic as I felt myself getting unreasonably hot. “It ain’t even entirely about sex! A lot of it’s about views on things like gender-based stereotypes and double standards, and communication and— OOP!” I was interrupted by a hoof placing itself on my mouth. I looked at Twilight to see her giggling.

“It’s okay, Ty. I’m a grown mare. I know how to handle reading this type of material,” she calmly assured as she let go. “I’ve read tons of material spanning on a wide scale of natural pony anatomy and activity. I’m sure humans couldn’t be too different.” A wave of relief washed over me as I listened to Twilight.

“Oh…”

“Yeah. But from the looks of the books here, I’ve got quite a lot to study up on! Thanks!”

“Y-you’re welcome,” I timidly replied, still not completely over the uncomfortable air. I glanced at the clock to see that it read 6:57 PM. “Well, I got about five hours before I decide t’ call it a night. What do you wanna do until then?”

“I’d LOVE to get started reading these books, but… I don’t want to ruin all the free time I’ll have with them tomorrow. Do you have anything in mind?”

“Not really… I suppose I could spend some time showin’ you how the TV, the phone, and the computer work…”

“Excellent!” she excitedly stated. “I’ve been wondering how those things functioned.”

“Alright then! Problem solved!” I said with a smile. With that, I spent the remainder of the day showing Twilight the television, giving her a bit more of an in-depth explanation of the mechanics of it. I had the computer to thank in part for some of the information I relayed to her. I also gave her a basic description of the function of the phone. She caught onto that concept fairly quickly. I spent the majority of the time teaching her about the computer, though. She was captivated by its design and functions as I explained to the best of my ability how it worked and how almost everyone around the world used the Internet to instantly send electronic information to one another. Of course, I also warned her about the dangers of wandering around the Internet too much, as I’d heard of horrible places that would likely scar the both of us. In fact, I specifically told her that if she was going to use the computer while I was gone, she was not to get adventurous under any circumstances and to only use the computer for learning purposes while I was away. Eventually, after the lengthy, yet insightful hour-long lectures on the functions of basic human appliances, the time hit for us to hit the hay.

After setting the alarm on my phone, I carelessly crashed my aching, chilling body onto the bed, eager for sleep as the illness was progressing towards the point at which it would make my day a living hell tomorrow.

“Sweet dreams, Twilight…” I said with a yawn as the unicorn made herself comfortable next to me rather than on top. “You don’t want to sleep on me this time?”

“Well, you have to wake up bright and early tomorrow. You’ll save time if I slept beside you rather than on top.”

“True. G’night,” I whispered as I got comfortable.

“Good night, Ty,” she quietly replied as she snuggled up close to me. I wrapped an arm around her as we soon allowed ourselves to drift off to sleep…